


Journey of the Phantoms

by wolfdragon64



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Humor, because why wouldn't there be, but im not sure how that would turn out, don't know about relationships yet, kinda wanna do polythieves, sorta of a novelization
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-07-29 19:08:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16270499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfdragon64/pseuds/wolfdragon64
Summary: He was accused of a crime he didn't commit and now he was stuck in Tokyo for a year. Nothing is ever easy in his life though but he's not going to stand aside while the adults ruin the lives of his classmates. He'd become the Joker if it meant keeping his ever growing group of friends safe. With Arsene at his side who would be there to stand in his way of keeping them safe?





	1. Investigations

This wasn’t what he had had in mind when he had been transferred. He had just wanted to keep his head down and get through the year but now he was helping his new friend find evidence against the volleyball coach. How did he end up in this mess?

Right, he had ended up in a castle on his first day of school and met Ryuji. It had all snowballed from there and now here he was, listening to rumors as he walked through the halls and questioned the Volleyball Team. None of the rumors were true either, most of them saying that he smoked off campus and went to the red-light district. He had hoped that by coming to Tokyo he would be able to escape the rumors, but it looked like that had been idiotic. The cards really were stacked against him and he didn’t even know what he had done to deserve it.

“Hey, you listening?” He shook himself out of his thoughts and looked to Ryuji, giving him a small smile before he nodded.

“Yeah, but so far we haven’t gotten anything from anyone and if what Mishima was saying is true then no ones going to fess up,” he sighed, shaking his head.

“We can’t just give up though!” The outburst startled him and he let out a low laugh, expecting no less of the blond that had become his friend.

“I know, but cornering the players isn’t going to help, we’re going to have to get evidence or something in order to get him to talk.”

“Yeah, let’s head home and see if we can figure something out tomorrow. See ya later,” Ryuji said with a grin before he took off, leaving him alone on the steps leading up to the school.

Ryuji was great and he didn’t seem to take the rumors seriously, which he appreciated. It was nice to have someone stick up for him, none of his friends back home had.

The Chariot, that’s what had been whispered in his ear when he had agreed to help Ryuji right after the blond had awakened his Persona. Captain Kidd, it was fitting for him, the pirate theme fit him to a T.

~

The LeBlanc was quiet when he got back, no one but Sojiro behind the counter and he quickly passed him to head back upstairs. He really didn’t need another lecture, he already knew that his life was hanging on this probation going on without any complications, he didn’t need to be reminded every time he came back.

The attic was still dusty and the books were still piled up against the wall. He really needed to clean up his room but he just didn’t have the energy to. He was stuck here for a year, he couldn’t go home, not that he really wanted to anyways. After the whole assault charge, his parents had been more than happy to get rid of him and it hurt that his parents had believed them over him. They knew him better than that, right?

~

“So, you’re seeing this too, right?” he asked, looking to the cat that was on the table, doing his best to glare at them.

“If you mean the cat on the table then I think so,” Ryuji replied as he watched the cat as it puffed up in agitation.

“I’m not a cat!” Morgana spit out, again. “This is just what I turned into when I crossed over here. It was a lot of trouble finding the two of you.”

“Wait… you came into out world?! Does that mean you’ve got a phone?” He couldn’t help the snort that sounded from him and he quickly looked away to cough, doing his best to hide his laughter at the statement and Morgana looked at him, his tail lashing behind him.

“I don’t need a phone, I’m just that good,” the blue eyed cat said, puffing up with pride this time. “But I did get pretty lost trying to find the two of you,” he grumbled.

“How can you talk though? You’re a cat!” Ryuji yelled and if he didn’t keep it down then someone was going to come over and investigate what he was yelling about.

“How should I know?” Morgana demanded as he got to his feet.

“Your hearin’ this too right?” the blond asked, looking over at him, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that the cat was talking to them.

“Meow?” he replied with the straightest face he could muster and it looked like Ryuji was going to lose it with that one.

“This is no time to be jokin’ around!” And cue the teachers walking by looking for the cat that they could only hear talking. Great.

~

They could storm the castle and steal the Treasure but there was no guarantee that Kamoshida would live through it. He had wanted to stop the guy but killing him seemed like going a bit too far. He wasn’t paying attention as he was walking though and he bumped into someone, catching them before they fell to the ground.

“I’m sorry, I was in the way,” he looked up, immediately noticing the bruises that covered her face and the gauze that was wrapped around her arms. She was on the volleyball team, there was no doubt about that.

“No, it was my fault, I wasn’t paying attention,” he told her, giving her a small smile. “You alright, those look pretty bad,” he said, referring to the bruises that were on her face.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking though,” she replied and she was quiet for a moment before looking back up at him. “Don’t listen to the rumors that are going around. People like to talk when there’s something new to talk about.”

“They don’t bother me all that much, I had to listen to a lot of it before I transferred here,” he sighed, looking over his shoulder as a group of students quickly turned away to avoid his gaze.

“It’ll get better. I had a friend who went through something similar,” she told him, smiling and he smiled back, giving a nod.

“Thanks, I should get going though and you don’t want to be late for practice.”

“Right.” He could see some of the color drain from her face and he clenched his fist in his pocket. He wanted to help her, he wanted to save her from the hell that was her practice but they hadn’t been able to find anything and she was walking right back into the lion’s den.

“I’m sorry,” he told her in a low, soft voice and she looked up at him in surprise but he was already heading towards the front of the school.

~

He didn’t know her and she didn’t know him but somehow he had ended up in the Café with her. She had been crying though and he wasn’t one to just ignore that kind of thing, look at how he had ended up on probation.

“You’ve heard the rumors, right?” she asked and he looked up at her, surprised since she seemed pretty intent on not talking with him about it. “About how I’m going out with Kamoshida-sensei, how everyone says we’re getting it on.” He had heard a few things but Ryuji didn’t seem like he had believed it, so how much truth was there in a story that his friend didn’t fully believe. “I avoided giving him my number for as long as I could and he wants me to meet him at his house after this,” she crumpled the napkin she had been sliding around, her nails digging into her palm. “You know what that means. But he said that he’d take Shiho off the starting team if I didn’t. I told myself that this was all for her, she’s my light at the shitty excuse of a school but I can’t take it anymore.” She had pushed back against the seat, tears dripping down her face, her hands on her lap as she dug her nails into her legs. “What should I do?”

Teachers were meant to look out for their students, not cause abuse like this, not torment their students with threats against their friends. He dug his fingers into his knees, anger bubbling in his chest and he could hear the sound of chains rattling in his ears, Arsene eager to fight against the monster that had brought distress to the girl in front of them. Red flickered in his eyes but it disappeared when she looked to him and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Sorry, I don’t even know you. I shouldn’t be asking you things like that,” she said, giving him a smile. She didn’t know that she had swayed his judgement just a bit, his answer of going after Kamoshida’s treasure leaning more towards storming the castle. “I’ve barely even talked to you before this.”

“Maybe that’s why,” he said, giving her a smile and handing her a napkin. “Its easier to talk to people when they aren’t personally involved with everything that’s going on.”

“You might be right. You’re so weird though. Usually everyone ignores me, afraid of what Kamoshida will do.” He could see her hesitate and he leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. “Are you really a bad person like the rumors say? You don’t seem like it, not from what I’ve seen today.”

“I’m bad to the bone,” he told her with a smile and he felt victorious when she snorted, doing her best to hide the sound by turning away.

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” He hummed in reply and she gave him a smile. “I kinda had a feeling they were all just exaggerations. You don’t seem like a bad guy, just kind of lonely- almost like you didn’t belong anywhere.” The hallow feeling in his chest appeared again but he could feel the brush of Arsene’s wings in his mind, easing some of the feeling. “We’re the same in that regard. Maybe that’s why its so easy for me to talk to you.” She looked to the side, like she was thinking and he tilted his head as he watched her. “Is there no way for me to help Shiho?”

~

Her words were still ringing in his head back in the attic, her want and desperation to help her friend. It sounded like she didn’t even know of the abuse that her friend was going through, Kamoshida conveniently leaving that part out. What would she think if she knew how much abuse her friend was going through? How would she react to all of this coming to light?

 _‘Don’t think to hard on it Trickster. It does you no good to go over such scenarios continuously,’_ Arsene chided and he sighed, smiling a bit.

“You’re right but there has to be something we can to. We have to end his reign or more people will end up getting hurt,” he told his inner being.

 _‘Straining yourself will do you no good. Sleep for now, we will find a solution to his crimes.’_ Warmth shrouded his mind after that, the sound of feathers filling his ears as he drifted to sleep.

~

So Morgana poking his head out of his desk had thrown him for a loop and he quickly pushed the cat back inside. “What are you doing here?” he hissed, Ushimaru-sensei stopping his lecture and looking around.

“Is there a cat in here?” he demanded and Morgana quickly pressed himself to the back of the desk. His phone buzzed then, Ryuji cutting class and he sighed, Morgana rolling his eyes as he read over the messages.

“She’s going to jump!” That got his attention and his head snapped up, looking towards the student that had shouted.

“Suzui?” Mishima was up and looking out the window, his face paler than usual making the bruises on his face stand out more. He looked horrified and Ann jumped to her feet in front of him.

“Shiho?” She was out of the room before he could process what was going on. Students were getting out of their seats at this point, ignoring Ushimaru-sensei entirely and he followed after Ann to the windows out in the hall. He could see her, standing at the top of the building and fear filled his chest causing Arsene to stir. It was the girl from yesterday, the one that had tried to cheer him up about the rumors. She was at the top of the building, she was Ann’s best friend, she was the one that Ann had taken the harassment for.

There were shouts from the students around him and then she was falling, vanishing from his view. Ann was the first one to move, pushing past him and down the hall towards the stairs. He didn’t think and simply followed after her, Ryuji meeting them at the stairs. They pushed and shoved their way through the students that were blocking the doors, making it easier for Ann to get through.

Students were standing around as the paramedics loaded Shiho onto the gurney, their phones out and filming the whole thing. He wanted to walk over to the nearest one and snap their phone in half, this was something that they should be filming. A student had just jumped off the room and they were just filming the damn thing. The chains rattled louder in his ears, Arsene’s own fury adding to his own.

None of the teachers even wanted to go with her, muttering about the principal handling the whole thing until Ann jumped forward to volunteer.

~

It all lead back to him, of course it did. He was going to get expelled but he wasn’t focusing so much on that. He had used Shiho, had destroyed the poor girl until she thought there was no other escape. The school had buried the problem so much that one of their students had tried to kill herself! There was no going back, there was no way they could let a guy like this get away with something like that. He didn’t care so much about him getting kicked out, he didn’t care that he would probably go to prison either. Shiho had almost died, Ann had been constantly tormented by the guy, the Volleyball Team came to school fearing they were going to be singled out.

He wouldn’t run from this anymore, he wouldn’t allow him to claim anymore students. The castle loomed over them, the lights inside bright like they were mocking them. Blue burned at his fingertips, Arsene more than ready to head inside and gut the man with his claws. The adults hadn’t done anything about him and now it fell on them, a couple of high school students and a cat. It sounded like the line to a joke to be honest.

“What is this?” He was pulled from his thoughts at the exclamation, his eyes widening beneath his mask at the sight of Ann standing on the bridge.

“T-Takamaki?!” Ryuji yelled, just as surprised by her sudden appearance but louder by the revelation than he was.

“S-Sakamoto? So that means Kurusu-kun?”

“H-how did you get here?” Ryuji yelled, straightening up and pulling his hands from his pockets.

“How should I know? What’s going on? Where are we?!”

This wasn’t how he had been expecting to start this infiltration and a look over at Morgana showed that he wasn’t going to be much help for a bit. He had a dreamy look in his eyes as he looked at his classmate and he pinched the cat in the side, making him jump with a yowl.

“Ann, you can’t be here,” he told her, walking towards her and she took a step back, a stubborn look in her eyes as she glared up at him.

“Like hell I can’t be. If this is related to Kamoshida then I want in on it,” she told him and he sighed, looking over at Ryuji for help.

“You guys are making a scene,” Morgana finally hissed at them. “You’re going to draw Shadows to us if you keep it up.”

“No way! It talked?! It’s a monster cat!”

“Monster?” Morgana said, looking dejected about being called that by Ann.

“You guys had better start explaining! I won’t leave until you do!” she yelled and he wanted to hit his head against the wall.

“Looks like we’re going to have to force her,” Ryuji said, looking to him and he nodded. Ann looked at him defiantly before he reached down and threw her over his shoulder causing her to make a noise in surprise.

“Put me down! I’m not leaving until you guys give me answers!” she shouted, making him flinch at the volume.

“Take her back to where we came in. That’s how you guys got back last time,” Morgana said and he nodded, carrying her to the boundary of the palace.

“Sorry Ann, but there’s not much you can do to help us with this,” he told her as he put her down. “We’ll take care of things but until then,” he pushed her out of the boundary and let out a low sigh. He knew she wanted to help, Shiho was her friend, but she didn’t have a Persona and they would just end up protecting her as they traveled further inside, and they couldn’t risk any of them getting hurt to protect her when they face Kamoshida.

~

The hall that they had been cornered in was full of guards and it sounded like Kamoshida was tired of them sneaking around his castle. He grinned at the annoyance that was clear in the king’s voice before he snuck towards one of the closed doors with Mona and Skull close behind. The door opened easily, and he quickly jerked back when he saw the guard standing in the middle of the room, nearly knocking Skull over in his attempt to back out.

“There are guards all over the place,” Skull hissed, and Mona rolled his eyes in response to the comment.

“What did you expect? You two have managed to break into the castle twice now and from what he was saying before, it sounds like he’s tired of it,” the cat huffed, folding his arms over his chest. “But we can use this. You ready Joker?” He nodded before he ran out, the Shadow looking to him before he struck it square in the chest with his blade. The soldier erupted, a little fairy hovering over them before a Zio, forcing the three of them to scatter. “Joker take her down!”

He pulled the gun from inside of his coat, avoiding another strike of lightning before he took aim, firing off the shot before she could get another spell in. The shot hit her, taking her down and the three of them jumped forward, surrounding her with their firearms out.

“Just see if she has any items or money, we could always use more of both when we’re infiltrating a Palace,” Mona told him, and he nodded before he turned back to the fairy in front of them.

~

“How many does that make?” Skull asked as Joker’s mask lit up again, another Persona added to his arsenal.

“Four, Jack-o-Lantern, Pixie, Bicorn, and Arsene,” he replied, closing his eyes briefly to sense out his Persona. Their lights fluttered in his mind before he opened up his eyes again, both Skull and Mona looking up at him.

“And this is why he’s Joker,” Mona said, looking up at him with a smirk while Skull rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, c’mon, we need to get goin’. The treasure ain’t gonna steal itself,” he growled out, heading down the hall and leaving the other two to follow after him. Joker could get why he was so anxious, the longer that Kamoshida was left to do as he pleased, the more people would get hurt.

“Looks like there’s a safe room up ahead, we should stop and take a rest before we head further in to the castle,” Mona said, running ahead of Skull and slipping into the room.

“Damn it, we should be pushing on ahead,” Skull said and he paused when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“We need to take a break Skull. I want to stop him as much as you but wearing ourselves out does no one any good.”

“Yeah, your right, sorry,” the blond sighed and he allowed him to steer him to the room that Mona had disappeared into. “There’s a lot of Shadows lurkin’ around. It’s gettin’ to be a real pain in the ass.”

“Its because the two of you provoked him,” the cat stated, looking up at them. “None of that matters though, we need to secure an infiltration route to the Treasure.”

“A what now?”

“A path to the Treasure,” he told him, looking to the door. “It’ll make it easier to get to the Treasure when we come back to steal it.”

“On top of things like usual Joker,” Mona grinned as he looked up at him. “If we can get a route when we won’t have to fight our way to the top when we come back.”

“I thought we were just going to grab the thing and get out the first time around,” Skull said, looking to the two of them.

“Sounds good in theory but we’ll be worn out if we have to fight our way back out of the Castle. Its better to get an escape route going so we can make an easy get away,” he hummed and Skull gaped at him.

“Dude, you sure you’ve never done something like this before?”

“Watched a lot of movies, not much else to do in a small town,” he replied, giving his a smile before he pushed himself away from the wall he had been leaning against.

“You guys hear that?” Mona asked, looking to the door, his ears twitching. “I’m gonna go and check it out.”

“So, you think he’s tellin’ us the truth, what with him bein’ human and all.”

“He’s gotten us this far, and even if he’s not he hasn’t given us a reason not to trust him.”

“Yeah, your right. Just bein’ paranoid I guess,” Skull sighed, rubbing the back of his neck when Mona came running back into the room.

“Its Lady Ann, the Shadows got her!” he yelled, making the two of them jerk from their resting positions.

“How did she manage to get back in? We saw Joker leave her at the edge of the Palace!”

“She must have gotten back in somehow! If the navigation app appeared on your phone when after you first came here then the same thing must have happened to her!”

He grit his teeth, hating the stupid app in that moment but he shook his head and looked at the two of them. “Let’s go, we need to get her out of here before something happens to her.”

~

“We don’t have time for you,” he growled, jumping onto the back of one of the soldiers that was patrolling the hall. He hooked his fingers underneath the mask and pulled, jumping back as the armor erupted into black goo and two Jack-O-Lanterns floated in its place.

He fired off two shots, each of them hitting the shadows in the chest before the three of them surrounded them. “Attack!” They jumped at the two Shadows, blades ripping through the beings until they erupted into the black and red matter and vanished.

He didn’t pause in his movements, sprinting down the hall they had just walked down, the iron bars that had blocker their way before were gone.

“She’s over there!” Mona yelled, the three of them running down the hall, the sound of Ann’s yelling reaching them.

“Get your hands off of me!” she yelled and it sounded like she managed to get a kick in on one of them from the sound of the armor clanking. He threw the doors open, Skull hitting his back when he stopped, cursing under his breath and peering over his shoulder.

“The hell man?” he demanded before he looked at what had stopped the Joker in his tracks. “That’s- that’s effed up man. Is this what he thinks of the girls on the volleyball team?”

Anger welled up in his chest again, his eyes shining red beneath his mask as he looked to where Ann was strapped to a board in the shape of an X.

“Takamaki!” Skull yelled, moving passed him to get to her, stopping abruptly when the soldiers drew their swords.

“Just when I was about to start enjoying myself. How many times are you peasants going to keep coming back?” Kamoshida growled, glaring at them before he looked back at Ann, his golden eyes filled with a sick glee. “I bet you’re just like those thieves. You came because you’re pissed at me, huh? But, ah… I forget that chick’s name but it’s your fault she jumped, you know. You were so reluctant to throw yourself onto me that I had her take your place.”

Blue flames licked at his fingers and he could hear Arsene’s chains rattling in his ears, anger pulsing from his Persona. He dared to pin what had happened to Shiho on Ann, he was low enough that he would brush off what he had pushed her to and act like it was someone else’s fault?

Skull jerked forward and the soldiers at Ann's sides pointed their blades at her throat, forcing her to lift her head so that they didn’t cut into her skin.

“Take one more step and I’ll kill her on the spot,” Kamoshida grinned, looking over at the three of them while the golden knight took another step forward. “Just sit back and enjoy the dismantlement show. Maybe I’ll start with her clothes,” he purred, looking back at Ann, the golden knight’s blade pressing against the top of her jacket.

“W-what do we do? If we make a move to help he’ll just kill her,” Skull said, desperate to do something to help. “Takamaki!”

“Is this… my punishment for what happened to Shiho?” she drew his attention at her words, clenching his fists and forcing the flames back for now.

“That’s more like it. You should’ve looked like this from the start,” the King laughed, looking to her with a grin.

“Shiho, I’m so sorry..”

“You’re just going to listen to him?!” Her head jerked up at his shout and he looked to her with a glare, his eyes burning red. “After everything he’s done, what he pushed her to do, after he tormented you for months! You’re just going to listen to him!?”

“No… I don’t want that,” she said, clenching her eyes shut. “You’re right. Letting this piece of shit toy with me. What was I thinking?!”

“It’s like I always say. Slaves should just behave and –“

“Shut up! I’ve had enough of this. You’ve pissed me off you son of a bitch!” Ann yelled, pulling against the restraints that held her to the board.

He saw it then like he had with Ryuji, her eyes flaring gold and he grinned, Arsene chuckling in his ear at the sight of it. The mask appeared on her face then, the restrains snapping off and the blue flames flared as she pulled off the mask.

A woman in a red, low cut dress stood at Ann’s back, a cigar in her mouth and two heart headed men chained at her side. Ann’s eyes snapped open and she moved at one of the soldiers, kicking the sword from his hand before jumping into the air, grabbing it and swiping down at the copy that Kamoshida had made at her. The fake Ann burst into black goo before disappearing and the real Ann stood, pointing her blade at the King.

“You know what? I’m not some cheap girl you can toy with, you scumbag.”

“Bitch,” he spat out but he didn’t sound or look so confident in his statement, sweat dripping down his face as he glared at her.

“You stole everything from Shiho, you destroyed her. Now it’s your turn! I will rob you of everything!” He strode forward with Skull and Mona taking up places alongside Ann. He flipped the dagger in his hand before grabbing the handle and taking a stance beside her, grinning as he did so, the blue flames licking up his arm.

“How dare you! Enough of your insolence!” the golden knight yelled, both he and the two soldiers at his sides bursting into black before they merged into one. They turned into a demon on a toilet and he wasn’t sure if he should laugh or be a bit horrified at the sight of it.

“No, I’ve had enough of you,” Ann snapped back, her Persona standing at her back. “No one’s gonna stop me now! Let’s go Carmen!”

The four of them scattered as a Bufu spell shot out, hitting the wall behind where he had been standing and icing over the wall, an ice crystal forming. Skull moved in, leaping up and hitting the shadow over the head with his pipe and Mona darted in, slashing at his side with his saber.

Ann was moving around, the whip in her hand lashing out and wrapping around the shadow’s arm and pulling him down. “Carmen!” she called, pulling her mask off, blue lighting up and her Persona appeared behind her. “Agi!” Flames shot from the two men on their chains, hitting the shadow in the face and stunning him as he fell to the ground.

“Now!” he yelled and the four of them shot towards the downed demon, their weapons cutting into him until he roared, forcing them all back.

“Mabufu!” he roared, ice sweeping over them and leaving a layer of frost on their clothes. He charged at Skull, his claws lashing out and catching the blond in the chest before he could get there. He jumped onto the shadows shoulders, jumping off and lashing out, blade digging into his chest before he jumped back again.

“Jack-O-Lantern!” The lantern carrying Persona appeared in front of him and a burst of flames hit the shadow in the face, making him reel back in pain. “Now!” Mona ran forward, slicing him up across the chest, Ann’s whip lashed over him several times, Skull had pulled himself back together and jumped, hitting him over the head with his pipe. He jumped in last, digging his blade into the back of the shadow and dragging it down until the black that the shadows bled spurted from him.

“To think there was a woman who could stand up to Lord Kamoshida,” the shadow rasped as he looked to her and Ann scoffed.

“He’s not so great outside of this place. Out there he’s pathetic.” The shadow faded to nothing and the four of them turned to look at the King who was backing up out of the room. Ann was hunched over, exhausted after awakening her Persona and fighting against the Shadow.

“Damn it,” Kamoshida cursed before he turned and ran, Ann moving to go after him but her legs gave out under her.

“Get back here!” she yelled, trying to push herself up but she nearly ended up tripping over herself and settled for trying to get some of her energy back.

“Why’d you come here, man?! And more importantly, how?!” Skull yelled, looking to her while Mona moved towards her to try and help her catch her balance.

“Hey! Is that how you speak to a woman?” their mentor said, looking to Skull with a glare. “Are you alright Lady Ann?”

“Lady Ann? Wait, what is this thing? Is it alive? How can it talk?” she asked, confused and a bit on edge after everything that had happened so far.

“Just calm down. Everything’s going to be OK; don’t worry,” Mona tried to soothe but she pulled back, looking around the room they were in.

“How am I supposed to calm down?!” She seemed to finally realize what she was wearing and wrapped her arms around herself like she was trying to cover herself up. “Why am I dressed like this?! When did I-“

“Calm down,” he finally said, taking a step forward after making sure nothing else was going to come after them just yet.

“How can you expect me to be calm?” she demanded, and he sighed, dropping his head onto his hand.

“Well, I’m stumped. A search party will be coming for us soon though so there’s no time to explain here,” Mona told them. “We’re going to have to retreat for now.”

“Damn it, right when we were starting to get fired up you just had to- ugh, fine. Give me your arm. Get her other side,” Skull told him and he nodded, grabbing Ann and pulling her up, letting her wrap her arms around their shoulders while Mona lead the way out.

~

Ann had joined them and if the whispers in his ear had been right when she was the Lovers Arcana. Now he had three, Magician, Chariot, and Lovers. Morgana was curled up sleeping, comfortably at his side. He was glad that Sojiro had at least let him keep him instead of throwing him out. Guess he hoped it would teach him responsibility or help him keep out of trouble. Morgana was the one that was leading him into trouble though so fat lot of good that was doing him.

His thoughts strayed back to Kamoshida and he glared at the ceiling. How could he say those things about Shiho? It was his fault all that had happened, yet he had tried to pin it all on Ann because she didn’t want to sleep with him. It left a bad taste in his mouth and he closed his eyes, hoping that tomorrows infiltration went a bit smoother than today's.


	2. Infiltration

How exactly was he the one that ended up carrying Morgana through the neighborhood looking for the doctor? The only thing he really knew was that the Clinic was somewhere in the area bit not where.

“Have you found it yet?” Morgana asked from where he was hiding in his bag, poking his head out. “Why don’t we just ask around a bit? There’s a cop over there, I think he’d be able to help.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Akira sighed in reply, walking down one of the side streets and spotting the sign that led to the Clinic. “Looks like we found it anyways.”

“Okay, now how are we going to get her to give us some medicine?” the feline muttered, looking at the door and thinking.

“You sure this is a good idea? In case you can’t tell, I’m not that great at lying,” the teen huffed as his partner clambered up onto his shoulder and swatted gently at his head.

“We need this stuff if we’re going to go through the Palace. We can’t have you guys going down and with Lady Ann and Ryuji in the group, my Dia won’t hold up for long.”

“Alright, true enough,” he sighed, pushing the door open and stepping inside. The waiting room was small, a few magazines sitting near the bathroom door and he could see the woman from the café sitting behind the counter.

~ ~ ~ ~

So the nightmare thing wasn’t exactly a lie. He’d been having them even before he moved to Tokyo but with the addition of the Palaces and that weird place that the long nosed man called the Velvet Room, sleeping was kind of hard some days.

“Alright, I can prescribe you a sleeping pill. Things like that are mostly due to stress so taking them should help. Did you want a sweet one or a bitter one?” she asked, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Either one is fine with me,” Akira told her and she looked to him, sending a chill down the Thief’s spine.

“How about a stinky one, then?” she asked with a smirk and he could feel his face heat up a bit at having been caught out. “Just kidding. There’s no such pill. All right, why don’t we stop beating around the bush. You’re not sick at all, are you? I’m not as dumb as I look, you know,” she told him and he cold feel Morgana squirming in his bag by his feet.

“Busted,” the cat hissed under his breath and Akira wanted to pinch his cheeks in response.

“I’m guessing you’re here because you heard the rumors about me, huh?”

“Yeah, something like that,” the teen told her, rubbing his neck, his fingers catching some of his curls as he did.

“You’re one of those patients with an ulterior motive, huh? What’s the world coming to?” she sighed, looking at him and he did his best to hold her gaze, his skin crawling a bit. “I guess high school students have it tough nowadays too, huh? Fine, I’ll prescribe you some medication but only the ones that help you recover your health. You don’t look like you’d be much trouble and everything here is something I’ve made. I have a license and some of the medicines have been sold at hospitals,” she told him and he nodded, Morgana letting out a sigh of relief in his bag.

~ ~ ~

Akira looked down at the bag of medicine in his hand when he walked out of clinic, taking a low breath as Morgana poked his head out of the bag.

“That was a close one. But we should ask about the medicine he was talking about the next time we come by. Something like that could really be useful in the Palace.”

“We’re lucky she even agreed to give us something this time,” the teen told him, pinching his cheek and making his partner yowl in protest. “Still, you might be right. Its just something we’re going to need to keep in mind the next time we come by.”

“At least she didn’t ask what it was for. I don’t think we could have answered that one without seeming suspicious. You really do suck at lying,” Morgana said, licking his paw and rubbing at the cheek that had been pinched.

“And I told you that before we went in. We would have been caught out and had the cops called on us,” Akira muttered, shoving the medication in his bag and heading back to LeBlanc. And that was something he really didn’t need, he was supposed to be keeping his head down.

~ ~ ~

Untouchable was not what he was expecting but then again, what had he been expecting? Ryuji had bought a damn replica of a gun that he was now using to kill Shadows. Nothing they did anymore seemed to make much sense.

The guy behind the counter didn’t look like he’d be much help but then again, neither was his blond friend. Ryuji was great but he didn’t know the difference between a revolver and an automatic and the guy behind the counter looked like he was starting to get annoyed.

“What about you? Lookin’ for somethin’?” he asked and Akira paused, thinking. Being blunt would probably be the best thing to do right now and he nodded.

“We need something that looks real,” he finally replied. Morgana said it needed to look real in order for it to trick the Shadows that patrolled the Palace.

“Oh, you guys plannin’ a nice bank robbery or somethin’?”

“Th-that ain’t it! We just like how they look, is all,” Ryuji stuttered and Morgana sighed from where he was perched on Akira’s shoulder.

“Anyways, you shoulda said before you two’re enthusiasts. I’m always up for helpin’ fresh faces. Some precaution first,” the owner said, leaning forward and looking at the two of them. “Don’t go ‘round pointing ‘em at other people. Keep ‘em in a bag or somethin’ if you’re outside.”

“We’ll be careful,” Akira said with a bit of a smirk and the guy behind the counter leaned back, folding his arms over his chest.

“You damn well better be,” he growled. “Now, if you look close you’ll be able to see these’re models. Real guns feel… different. Maybe someday I’ll show you the real good stuff though… if you’ve got the guts for it, of course… But for now, you get the beginner selection. Just sit tight, I’ll bring ‘em out.”

They watched as he walked to the back and all three of them let out the breath they had been holding, relieved that they had managed to convince him. “We did it dude,” Ryuji said with a grin, throwing his arm around Arkia’s shoulder. “We totally gotta get some fancy shit, right? I want’em to shine! Oh, right, here’s the cash for mine. Pick me out something good.”

~ ~ ~

They had better weapons, they had medicine, and they had some lockpicks in case they came across anything that would require them to use it. The Castle loomed in front of them but he paused, thinking back on what he had just done. He had executed two of his Personas to create something new. He really didn’t like how he had to do it, it felt wrong and few too cruel. Those Shadows had decided to help him and he had basically led them to the executioners block.

‘There is nothing to be done about it,’ Arsene’s voice echoed. “Perhaps one day I too will be lead to the gallows.’

‘Never,’ Joker vowed, refusing to think about putting his inner self on the block.

“You alright there man?” You’ve been spacin’ out since we got here,” Skull said as he looked to the coated Thief.

“Fine, just thinking,” Joker replied, pulling himself from his thoughts and looking around the hall. They were retracing their steps back to the safe room they had found the last time they were there, and lucky for them there was a soldier patrolling the hall right outside the door. Skull, Mona, and Panther all waited around the corner while Joker darted out as soon as the soldier had its back turned. The white masked Thief leapt onto its shoulders and hooked his fingers under the mask, yanking it off with a strong tug.

“Show me you’re true self!” He rolled back as he landed on the ground, pulling his dagger from his belt as Skull charged out and bashed one of the Incubus that had spawned once the darkness faded.

“Panther!” Mona called and he jumped out of the way as flames shot towards the demon, causing him to cry out and flail as he was set on fire. “Zorro!” The masked vigilante appeared behind their smallest member and slashed the air with his rapier, a swirl of wind hitting the burning demon, blasting him back into the wall.

“Arsene!” Joker ripped off his mask, the demon rising up from the shadows behind him and flaring his wings out. Lances of darkness shot out and pierced the Incubus that had tried to drop on them, throwing the Shadow back into Skull.

“Eat this!” The pipe that Skull was using slammed into the demon, turning it to black mist before it disappeared. “Dude that was awesome!” the blond grinned, throwing his arm around his dark haired teammates shoulders. “And we even got a bit of money out of it too!”

“Will you keep your voice down. You’re going to alert more of the Shadows,” Mona hissed as he walked over to Panther. “Or do you want every Shadow in the Castle to know where we are?”

“We’re fine, we can take ‘em,” Skull grinned as he looked to Mona.

“I’d rather not fight the entire Castle just to get to the Treasure,” Joker told them with a small smirk, slipping out from Skull’s arm and heading towards the Safe Room. “C’mon, we could all use the break before we head deeper into the Castle.”

~ ~ ~

Joker stood outside of the Safe Room, his head resting back against the door, listening to the rest of the team while they took a break. He had stepped out to get his thoughts together, Arsene’s presence helping to calm him. He really hadn’t been planning any of this. He’d planned to keep his head down during his year in Tokyo and not draw attention to himself. Now he was involved with changing the heart of a corrupt gym teacher before he ended up getting expelled. But it wasn’t just that, he wanted to help the kids that were trapped under the ‘King’s’ rule, they didn’t deserve what was happening to them. His eyes flashed a deep crimson as he thought back to what had happened to Shiho, what was happening to Mishima. He closed his eyes, getting his emotions back under control, the thrum of the power that flowed under his skin bubbling, wanting to be unleashed on the so called ‘King’. 

‘Patience young Trickster. His time will come,’ Arsene soothed, making his greater whole let out a breath.

‘Thanks. Funny how all this happened though. Here I thought I was going to be living out a quiet life here in Tokyo but I got pulled into all of this.’

‘Fate has a funny way of moving things along,’ the demon said with a chuckle, warming Akira’s soul and making the teen smile.

‘Wish I could have gotten here without getting arrested though. That really wasn’t on my list of things to do in life,’ the Thief hummed, opening his eyes as the door opened next to him.

“What are you doing out here?” Panther asked as she stepped out and he gave her a smile before looking to the ceiling.

“Just trying to sort everything out in my head.”

“Kind of crazy, isn’t it? A world like this is something you only read about in books and mangas,” she laughed, shaking her head and making him laugh. “But for us, its not just a story. We can help people with this, we can stop him from hurting anyone else at school like he hurt Shiho,” she said, her tone determined and the flickers a deep red burning in her eyes.

“We’ll stop him Panther. He’s not going to get away with any of this,” Joker assured her, moving so they were standing in front of each other. “You can even get the last hit on him when we’re done.”

“Thanks Joker. We ready to move on?”

“Yeah, let’s grab Mona and Skull so we can cover some ground.”

~ ~ ~

Joker ducked out of the way of the Kelpie’s hoof and Skull moved in, bashing the Shadow’s face in with his pipe, making it reel back with a pained yowl.

“Finish them Captain!” the blond yelled, ripping off his mask and the Pirate captain sprang to life with a burst of blue flames. Lightning arced out of the bowsprit, striking the equine Shadow and disintegrating it.

“Carmen!” The dancer appeared behind Panther, striking the Silkie in the chest with a burst of flames. The Shadow screeched in pain, eyes narrowing before she sent a burst of ice towards the Persona user. That attack struck Panther before she could move, knocking her back into Mona.

“Panther! Arsene!” Joker snarled, his eye burning crimson as he summoned his Persona. Arsene blew away the blue flames with a sweep of his wings, the chains rattling loudly from his summoner’s anger. “Go!” The demon shot forward, his claws sinking into the abdomen of the Silkie before darkness seeped from the wounds, shredding the Shadow to nothing but black mist.

“Damn dude,” Skull breathed out as Joker’s mask appeared on his face and the crimson faded from his eyes. The Pirate summoner looked back at Panther and patted his dark haired friend on the shoulder. “She’s fine. Mona fixed her up while you were shredding the Shadow to pieces.”

“Sorry, that one hit me harder than the others,” Panther said as she got to her feet, Mona jumping up on to Joker’s shoulder with a nod.

“It makes sense with your Persona. You all have elemental weaknesses since your Persona use a specific element. Panther’s is ice, Skull’s is wind, and mine is lightning,” Mona explained looking at the three of them. “Joker can cover those weaknesses by swapping out his Persona but Arsene is weak to Ice and Bless.”

“It’s like Pokemon,” Skull grinned and Mona gave him a confused look before he let out a sigh.

“Alright, lets finish up and move on,” Joker cut in before the two of them could start arguing with each other again. “We need to get to the next Safe Room before we head out.”

~ ~ ~

The chandeliers hovered over the entrance hall. Shadows were patrolling the ground below and Joker motioned for the others to follow as he pulled himself up onto one of the ledges along the wall. The crystals on the chandeliers rattled when they jumped onto them and they took a moment, letting the fixtures settle again. They were half-way over the lights when the door slammed open again, startling their group and they quickly dropped onto their stomachs. Joker was the first one to crawl towards the edge, peering down over the side and the rest of the group followed after him, curious.

“You thought you could escape me?” Kamoshida snarled, stalking down the stairs. Two of the shadow knights shoved a figure down at the foot of the steps and their King kicked the person in the face, sending them sprawling.

“Mishima,” Panther gasped, watching as the cognition tried to get back to his feet. Skull growled, the grop he had on the metal walk tightening.

“You belong to me! And no one gets to leave my court!” The King snapped, stepping down the stairs and kicking Mishima in the stomach, knocking him down onto the rug. “Your nothing special. No one’s going to save you.”

Panther’s entire body was coiled tight, ready to jump down and Joker put a hand on her shoulder. The metal beneath Skull’s hand cracked, bending under his grip and lightning sparked through his hair. Joker’s body was vibrating with anger, Arsene’s chains rattling in the sea of his soul, reacting to his anger.

“Guys, he’s not real. He’s just a doll in this palace,” Mona hissed at them, trying to quell their anger.

“Just the fact that his inner self is doing this, that he actually does this in the real world,” Skull snarled. “You’ve seen the bruises that Mishima has, how he’s always wrapped up in bandages.” Mona sighed, hoping they would come to their senses before things got out of hand.

“Maybe you should jump off the building like that girl did. Save me the trouble of getting rid of you myself.”

The metal shattered under Skull’s hand, Panther was moving over the edge with Joker before Mona could stop them and Skull followed seconds later, their eyes burning crimson. Anger flowed through the three of them and they reached up pulling off their masks, blue flames swirling behind the three of them as the Persona’s were called from their souls.

“ARSENE!”

“CARMEN!”

“CAPTAIN KIDD!”

The three Persona appeared, blocking Mishima from view with their forms as the King’s knights moved to defend their King.

“You three,” Kamoshida snapped before he turned his back on them and stomped up the stairs. “Get rid of them!” More knights burst into the room, the three clad in golden armor.

“How dare you interrupt King Kamoshida!” The knights burst into darkness, the three transforming into the knights that Skull had faced when he awakened Captain Kidd. The lesser Shadows transformed, leaving two Silkies and two more Kelpies, the equine Shadows snorting and pawing at the ground, golden eyes focusing in on the intruders. Mona sighed as he hopped down from where he was still on the chandelier, landing on the ground next to Joker. One of the Eligor charged forward, his lance aimed at the darker clothed one and the thief rolled to the side, Arsene flaring his wings powerfully and sending spears of darkness towards the knight. Eligor cut through them with his lance, charging again and forcing the Thief back.

“You’re not getting off that easy,” Skull grinned, Captain Kidd sparking with lightning, a Zio spell already crackling to life. “Eat this!” A blast of lightning burst from the cannon on the Captain’s arm, striking the Eligor he was fighting and tossing the rider and mount to the ground. “Finish them off Captain!” The Persona’s grin looked like it widened, more lightning sparking to life on both Persona and summoner. Skull ran forward, lightning running down the pipe he was using and knocked the knight back to the ground when it tried to rise.

Panther was having some trouble with the Eligor she was facing off against, the knight resistant against her fire and bullets. “Alright, let’s try this!” Her whip wrapped around the knight’s neck and Carmen’s around the horse. The two pulled in tandem, pulling the rider and mount apart. “Mona!”  
The smaller Thief leapt over Panther and made a bee line for the Shadow, jumping off the back of a Kelpie that was trying to charge him. “Take this!” Mona yelled, his blade cutting through Eligor’s armor, leaving a nasty cut through the steel.

One of the Kelpie’s charged at Mona while the Thief was trying to get his footing back, golden eyes narrowed with fury. “Agathion!” The small pot demon materialized in front of Mona, lightning sparking before a bolt shot out and struck the horse. 

“Thanks Joker!”

Joker was already switching his Persona, Arsene appearing again and cackling as Eligor stumbled back to his feet. Ice shot along the ground, striking the demon and sending pain sparking up the summoner’s arm from the impact. Both the demon and his greater whole growled, throwing their arm out, the ice shattering. Flame erupted under the feet of the Silkie that had attacked Joker until nothing but black mist was left. Skull and Captain Kidd’s lightning struck down the Kelpie, the pained shrieks fading to nothing. Joker moved, leaping onto Eligor’s back, bringing his blade down where the helmet met the armor and sinking it in, black spraying out.

The Shadow thrashed, trying to throw the Thief off but wasn’t having much success. Arsene moved in and Joker flipped off, allowing the demon to grab the knight and throw him across the room.

Mona ducked under the hoof of the Eligor he was fighting, slashing at the horse’s legs with his blade and causing it to stumble. “Zorro!” The masked swordsman appeared in front of Mona, slashing the air in front of him. The wind knocked the Shadow into the one Arsene had tossed away, tangling the two Shadows as they fought to get up.

Panther was jumping around the final Eligor that was standing. Her whip wrapped around the Shadow’s sword hand and she gave a hard tug, the lance falling from his hand. Carmen moved in flames erupting around the knight and the horse reared back, thrashing and knocking the flames away. Skull had moved in that time, both him and Captain Kidd slamming into the Shadow and knocking him back into the other two.

“Joker!”

“Agathion!” The small blue demon and the pirate captain were already sparking with power and both summoners threw out their arm in front of them.

“MAZIO!” Duel crashing of lightning struck the three knights, shouts of pain echoing in the hall before the three erupted into black mist. The final Kelpie and Silkie backed up out of the room and fled to another part of the castle but the Thieves paid them no mind, their mask returning to their place on their faces. Skull was the first to turn towards Mishima, offering his hand and grinning when another hand met his.

“Don’t listen to what that asshole has to say. He doesn’t get to decide what your worth,” he told the cognition.

“He’s right though. I’m useless, I can’t do anything right,” Shadow Mishima said as he looked to the ground and Joker stepped out, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“You aren’t useless, you just haven’t found something to pour yourself into yet. Give it time and you’ll find what you supposed to be doing.”

“Guys we need to go before we get swarmed again,” Mona said as he motioned for them to get a move on.

“Don’t give up yet Mishima. The King’s reign will end,” Panther said as she looked to the cognition before they all turned and ran down the hall they had entered the Palace through.

“Now we have to make up lost ground,” their mentor sighed, looking at the three of them but they all looked unrepentant, making his sigh. “You know there really wasn’t a point in all that.”

“Seemed pretty worth it to me,” Skull said as he walked into the room connected to the hall, Panther following after him.

“Let it go Mona,” Joker said as he nudged him before he moved to followed the rest of the team.

“Your all nothing but trouble,” the cat huffed but he darted after them, not wanting to get left behind.

~ ~ ~

“To think, the Safe Room was right after those chandeliers,” Morgana groaned as the two of them dropped onto the bed. “If you guys had just let it be we would have gotten out a lot sooner.”

“Worth it,” Akira grumbled from where his face was squished into the pillow.

“You’re all reckless, we could have gotten out with less injuries if you had kept your heads.”

“Yeah, but that’s not really us,” the teen said, rolling over onto his back and looking up at the ceiling before he draped his arm over his eyes.

“Get up, you need to change before you get into bed. Not like your going to be going out anyways,” the cat huffed, swatting at his shoulder to get him to move.

“I’m moving, I’m moving,” the teen groaned, pulling himself up and moving to change into his sleep clothes. His muscles ached and he debating on heading to the baths before bed before he shook his head, too tired to even think about trying to go back out. Not like Sojiro would let him. It was late and he had to stay inside to keep from getting into trouble after all.

“At the speed we’re going, we should be able to clear the Palace before the deadline,” Morgana said, yawning and curling up on Akira’s stomach once he was in bed.

“Hope so, don’t really feel like getting yanked from school,” he teen sighed, folding his arms behind his head. It was his last chance, if this didn’t end up going well he was going to go back to prison and he really didn’t want to end up back there. He shook his head, clearing his head and closed his eyes. He did have class in the morning and he didn’t want to wake up to Morgana pouncing on his face again.

~ ~ ~

“Dude, everything hurts,” Ryuji whined, slumping in his seat, a juice boxing dangling from his mouth by the straw.

“You all did get knocked around by Shadows. I don’t know what you guys were expecting,” Morgana said, looking down from where he was perched on one of the AC units.

“Yeah but we were healed up before we came back through!”

“Your bodies are adjusting to combat. Taking hits like that are going to hurt regardless of the healing.”

“Ugh, are we going back in today?” the blond asked, looking over at his friend and he got a head shake in response.

“Ann has something she has to do for a shoot after class. We can head in tomorrow if we’re all free,” Akira told him, tapping his pencil against the desk and watching the clouds. 

“We should head in soon, the bell’s going to ring and we don’t want people knowing we come up here.”

“Right, gotta follow some of the rules,” the lightning user grinned as he got to his feet, grabbing his stuff before he headed out.

“I’ll meet up with you after school,” Morgana said, stretching himself out before he got comfortable on the unit again.

~ ~

The bookstore was one place he didn’t mind hanging around after school. No one starred at him or whispered about him behind his back. He didn’t blame Mishima for what he did but having to deal with the result of it was getting exhausting. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been the first day at least, the constant whispers and stares then had made him feel like he was a show animal.

“What are you looking at?” Morgana asked, poking his head up but not sticking out so he could try and get a look at the book Akira was looking at.

“Just some fantasy novels and books on mythology,” he told him, poking his nose to get him to go back in the bag.

“Well hurry up. I’m hungry,” the cat grumbled, diving back into the bag while his teammate went to the front and bought two books on mythology. So far most of the Shadows they had run into seem to be connected to it in some way. It probably wouldn’t help them any but he was curious about it and maybe he would start keeping a check list of which ones he met.  
~ ~ ~

“Why does he need to keep a library? The perv doesn’t seem like he reads anything but porn,” Skull growled as they looked at the shelves. Books lined the walls and the three that they had picked up were stacked on one of the desks in the room.

“It’s a puzzle you numbskull,” Mona huffed, looking over the shelves, his ear flicking from time to time as he listened for Shadows.

“Hey, this one has Shiho’s name on it,” Panther said, getting their attention and drawing them over.

“Ann Takamaki: The Charming Doll… Dude what the hell?” Skull breathed, looking over the rest of the books. “They all have names of the girls at school.” Haru Okumura and Makoto Nijima caught his attention, the two books done with gold and written in silver.

“I guess we know where this one goes then,” Joker said as he stepped up with the Queen book, slotting it into place.

“That’s disgusting,” Panther shuddered, taking a step away from the shelf. “Lets see where the rest of the books go.” Joker moved to the next shelf, running his finger along the spines, his eyes flashing when he saw Mishima’s name. He picked out his own name and Ryuji’s and he shook his head, pushing down his own feelings on the matter.

“Guess we have a place for the next book,” Mona said, watching as Joker slotted in the Slaves book, scowling.

“Shoulda seen that one coming,” Skull growled, glaring at the wall of books and turning his attention back to the shelf he had been looking at. “The History of Kamoshida, Tracing Kamoshida’s steps, Kamoshida’s Heroisms, Kamoshida’s Law. Asshole really thinks highly of himself.”

“Makes sense, this is his castle,” Panther pointed out, watching Joker moved to slot in the King book. As soon as it was slotted in there was a click and one of the shelves sank in before sliding to the side.

“Whoa, nice dude, a hidden room,” Skull grinned, the four of them moving around the globe to get to the new room. “What the hell is this room? There’s a ton of pictures of Suzui here,” he breathed, his eyes wide. Panther looked around the room, her body shaking with anger and fear. Joker walked over, putting a hand on her shoulder and making her jolt out of her thoughts.

“We’ll make him pay for this Panther. He’s not going to get away with what he did,” he told her and she gave a nod.

“As bad as it is, there has to be a reason that this room is here. Let’s look around and see if we can find what he was trying to hide,” Mona said, looking to the three of them. Joker looked around the room, his eyes glowing a dull gold.

“There,” he told them, pointing to a shelf and they moved towards it, Skull picking up the medallion that was sitting on top of a sheet of paper.

“Looks like that’s what we need to get passed the gate,” Mona said, jumping up on the shelf and looking at the key.

“Let’s go. Hopefully there’s a Safe Room behind the door,” Joker said, taking the key while Mona looked down at the paper he was standing on.

“Hey look! Its another part of the map,” he exclaimed, tracing the new areas with his paw.

“Great, lets go!” Skull grinned, grabbing the page and leading the way out of the room.

~ ~ ~

“I’m starting to think you enjoy watching us lay around in pain,” Akira accused Morgana, the cat lying on the bed while he was lying on the floor.

“You can’t prove anything,” the cat said with a smirk, his tail flicking slowly behind him. “We did get through a decent amount of the Palace though but we’re running low on medicine. We’re going to need to make a stop to see Tameki soon if we want to keep going at this pace.”

“We’ll go and see her tomorrow. Sojiro did just give me a key so it means we can wander around at night now too,” the teen pointed out, sitting up with a grunt and stretching his arms over his head to work out some of the kinks in his back.

“Well we’re not doing much tonight. Going to the Palace really drains us so you may as well get some sleep,” his blue eyed partner yawned, getting up so that Akira could slide into bed.

“I’m starting to think you my night alarm more than anything,” he huffed, switching off the light before he got comfortable under the blankets.

“Someone has to make sure you get some sleep.”

“I sleep.”

“Four hours doesn’t count as sleep, that’s just a long nap.”

“It gets me through the day.”

“Barely. Now sleep before I make you.”

“How are you going to make me?”

“Wanna find out?”

“… You know what, no, I really don’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo... I don't really have much of an excuse other than I'm a lazy piece of shit. But hey, I tried to make the chapter as long as I could before I decided to cut it off. There are some tweaks here and there in the story but over all, I'm pretty happy with it. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed it. Thanks for checking the story out too!

**Author's Note:**

> Started playing Persona 5 again and I started writing as I was playing. Decided it wouldn't be half a bad idea to post it and now there's this. I don't have a Beta so any mistakes are my own.


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